Luftwaffe colors pre-war to 1941

The three-color splinter scheme that lasted only a few years

The oldest camouflage system of the Luftwaffe rested on three earthy tones divided by sharp angular edges: dark brown, green and light gray. It was carried by the machines that appeared over Spain, over Poland and in the first months over France, that is bombers, dive bombers and twin-engine fighters. It is exactly this original palette that these eight shades make available.

Experience in combat soon sent it to the archive. Earthy tones made sense against the ground, but the fighting moved higher and against the sky they gave a machine away at long range. From 1940 the change was therefore made to a dark green-and-black pair and a lighter blue underside, which are represented in the set as well, so the line-up captures the whole transition between the two systems.

The supplementary shades cannot be missing either. A gray interior tone covered cockpits, undercarriage bays and the insides of engine cowlings on practically every type, while a rich yellow served for quick recognition of friendly machines in the air: the nose of the fuselage, the undersides of the wingtips and the rudders were painted with it, in a form that differed from squadron to squadron.

A modeler building the early years of the Luftwaffe rarely needs more than these eight. The set covers both the oldest appearance of the machines and the state in which they entered the Battle of Britain.

One more detail is worth noting. The boundaries between the camouflage fields were sharp at first, because the finish was applied to templates at the factory. Softly sprayed transitions appeared only later, when repainting was done at units on the airfield itself.